Logist. Res.

(2016)9:12
DOI 10.1007/s12159-016-0139-6

ORIGINAL PAPER

An advanced tabu search approach to the dynamic airlift loading

problem
August G. Roesener1,3 • J. Wesley Barnes2

Received: 1 August 2015 / Accepted: 20 June 2016

 The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Abstract This research effort presents a tabu search research effort has solved this specific problem, the algo-
algorithm to solve the dynamic airlift loading problem. rithmic results are compared to compute lower bounds on
Given a set of palletized cargo items which require trans- the number of aircraft trips required.
portation from an aerial port of embarkation to an aerial
port of debarkation within a pre-specified time frame, the Keywords Tabu search  Knapsack  Bin packing 
dynamic airlift loading problem seeks to partition the Military applications  Aircraft loading
pallets into aircraft loads, select an efficient and effective
subset of aircraft from available aircraft, and assign the Abbreviations
pallets to allowable positions on those aircraft. The AALPS Automated airlift load planning system
dynamic airlift loading problem differs from many parti- ACL Allowable cabin load
tioning and packing problems described in the literature APOD Aerial port of debarkation
because, in addition to spatial constraints, factors such as APOE Aerial port of embarkation
allowable cabin load, balance restrictions, and temporal C-5 C-5 galaxy
restrictions on cargo and aircraft are included. The algo- C-17 C-17 globemaster III
rithm developed in this research, the dynamic airlift load- CB Center of balance
ing problem-tabu search, was tested on a variety of DALP Dynamic airlift loading problem
problem instances. Since real-world solutions are hand DALP-TS Dynamic airlift loading problem-tabu search
generated by subject matter experts and no previous TPFDD Time-phased force deployment document
US United States

The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the
official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the US 1 Introduction
Government.

& August G. Roesener Power projection, which is the capability to transport

August.Roesener@gmail.com military power in an expeditionary manner, represents a
J. Wesley Barnes large portion of United States (US) military activities.
wbarnes@mail.utexas.edu Transportation of personnel and equipment in this endea-
1
vor is the responsibility of the US Transportation Com-
Department of Operational Sciences, Air Force Institute of
mand, whose airlift component is air mobility command
Technology, 2950 Hobson Way, Wright Patterson Afb,
OH 45433-7765, USA [40]. In an average week, US Transportation Command
2 operates in 75 % of the world’s countries, conducting over
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of
Texas, 1 University Station, C2200, Austin, TX 78712, USA 1900 air missions [40].
3 For several years, a consortium between the Air Force
Present Address: Headquarters Air Mobility Command,
1 Soldier Way, Building 1900 West, Scott Air Force Base, Office of Scientific Research, the University of Texas at
IL 62225, USA Austin, and the Air Force Institute of Technology

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12 Page 2 of 18
addressed various aspects of the overarching Military
Mobility Problem which involves transporting personnel
and equipment to any point on the planet. Previous
research efforts addressed several aspects of this Military
Mobility Problem using advanced tabu search methods:
• The aerial fleet refueling problem [3] addressed locat-
ing global refueling aircraft flight tracks and joining
them with aircraft requiring fuel;
• The theater distribution vehicle routing and scheduling
problem [10] evaluated the routing and scheduling of
multimodal (i.e., air, sea, rail, truck, etc.) theater
transportation assets;
• The strategic airlift problem [21] examined routing
cargo-loaded strategic airlift aircraft through a global
network of embarkation and debarkation ports;
• The strategic mobility mode selection problem [26]
analyzed the proper mode (i.e., air, sea, rail, truck, etc.)
to transport palletized and non-palletized cargo items;
• The static airlift loading problem [34] minimized the
total strategic airlift aircraft required to transport
palletized cargo between a fixed port of embarkation
and debarkation pair; and
• The mixed payload airlift loading problem [28]
expanded on the static airlift loading problem to
include non-palletized cargo items such as vehicles,
helicopters, or small boats.
Airlift provides military forces the global reach capa-
bility to quickly apply strategic power to various crisis
situations worldwide [1]. Airlift has a history spanning
over 80 years [6, 14]. While numerous advances have been
achieved in both aircraft capabilities and airlift procedures,
many areas for improvement still exist. As noted in [34], an
area of airlift not yet adequately addressed involves (1)
packing cargo items onto pallets, (2) partitioning the pal-
lets into aircraft loads, (3) selecting an efficient and
effective subset of aircraft from an available pool of air-
craft, and (4) feasibly placing the pallets in the best
allowable positions. These four tasks are interdependent
and their combination, augmented with temporal consid-
erations (e.g., earliest cargo available load date at its aerial
port of embarkation (APOE) and earliest and latest delivery
dates to its designated aerial port of debarkation (APOD)),
defines the dynamic airlift loading problem (DALP).
The analysis directorate of headquarters air mobility
command expressed a need for an analytic tool to quickly
and effectively generate excellent solutions to DALP tasks
2, 3, and 4. Task 1 was excluded because, in deployment
situations, it is usually performed by elements of the US
Army.
To describe and solve this problem, this research effort
first briefly discusses previous research efforts on similar
types of problems. Next, this endeavor presents
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Logist. Res. (2016)9:12
background information on a previously described prob-
lem, the static airlift loading problem followed by a
detailed description of the DALP. The explanation of this
effort proceeds with a detailed description of the algorithm
developed to solve it, the dynamic airlift loading problem-
tabu search (DALP-TS), including mathematical compar-
isons to the current technique as well as a theoretical lower
bound. The description of this methodology concludes with
a brief summary and recommendations for future research.
2 Airlift loading: brief literature review
Previous research efforts have approached the airlift load-
ing problem from different perspectives rendering mean-
ingful algorithmic comparisons difficult. Feng et al. [12]
present a detailed literature review of commercial air cargo
operations. They note that ‘‘most problems, real-world
problems in particular, remain unsatisfactorily solved,
partly because of the complexities of air cargo operations’’
[12]. Most commercial airlift problems differ from military
airlift problems in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.
Commercial airlift cargo problems attempt to balance
efficiency (i.e., generating revenue) and effectiveness
(maintaining customer satisfaction); however, their clear
goal is to earn a profit. Military airlift problems ensure
effectiveness first (i.e., deliver needed goods and equip-
ment when needed), while maintaining the greatest degree
of efficiency as possible (i.e., wisely spending taxpayer’s
money). These different goals lead to varying approaches
in formulating and solving commercial and military airlift
problems.
The literature described herein is categorized as military
specific research efforts, bin packing problems, pickup and
delivery problems, and cost/revenue problems. Although
many research efforts could be categorized in multiple
categories, they are categorized herein by their main
emphasis area.
2.1 Military loading research efforts
Cochard and Yost [7] developed the deployable mobility
execution system for use by the US Air Force. Their model
used a modified cutting stock heuristic which only gener-
ated feasible loads for the aircraft. An upgraded version of
this algorithm, called Computer Aided Load Manifesting,
became the US Air Force standard; however, it was sub-
sequently replaced due to its inadequacies in generating
solutions to large-scale airlift loading problems.
Ng presented a multicriteria optimization algorithm
(using goal programming) for aircraft loading [29]. He
demonstrated a 9 % reduction in required aircraft com-
pared to traditional, manual methods for generating aircraft
Logist. Res. (2016)9:12
loads [29]. His algorithm was limited to the ‘‘initial plan-
ning stages of an airlift exercise, when most of the data are
not very accurate;’’ thereby limiting its applicability for an
actual airlift loading problem [29].
The Air Force Studies and Analyses Agency (now
designated as Headquarters Air Force/A9) contracted the
development of the airlift loading model as a research and
evaluation tool for analysis of loadability for military
combat and support units on airlift [8]. This model deter-
mined the number of sorties required to move military units
into and within a theater of operations.
Baker et al. [2] detailed an algorithm, called NPS/
RAND Mobility Optimizer, to optimize the utility of mil-
itary airlift in a deployment setting with time windows as
well as analyze the US Air Force fleet modernization and
allocation of resources. Their methodology expanded upon
the airlift loading problem by including air refueling;
however, it only loads cargo items according to weight [2].
The algorithm did not assign cargo items to specific posi-
tions within an aircraft; therefore, this technique is useful
for estimating total aircraft required for planning and
budgeting purposes but not for implementation in an actual
deployment setting.
Gueret et al. [17] proposed a method for loading military
aircraft (specifically, the French military) for airlift oper-
ations. They used a two-phased solution method consisting
of heuristics that quickly compute ‘‘good’’ initial solutions
and a local search algorithm to improve upon the initial
solution, while ignoring the aircraft center of balance (CB).
The research effort presented herein employs a similar
construct, using an extension of the current methodology to
quickly generate quality initial solutions and then a search
heuristic to improve on this solution.
Hilliard et al. [18] described the airlift deployment
analysis system which facilitated troop and cargo move-
ment in support of operation DESERT STORM. The
operation was a large-scale implementation of an airlift
loading problem with time windows. Unfortunately, the
authors only explained the algorithm in general terms and
the transported goods in bulk; the algorithm does not assign
cargo to specific locations within the aircraft.
2.2 Bin packing problems
Modeling the airlift loading problem as a 2-dimensional
bin packing problem is an attractive but limited approach
[4, 24, 32]. Heidelberg et al. [20] approached the airlift
loading problem as a 2-dimensional bin packing problem
(ignoring height constraints) using length and width of the
cargo items and of the aircraft’s cargo hold. They indicated
that classical methods of bin packing are inadequate in
aircraft loading because they ignore aircraft CB concerns
and item spatial restrictions.
Page 3 of 18 12
Mongeau and Bes [27] described an algorithm to opti-
mize aircraft loading by treating the cargo holds as con-
tainers. They demonstrated the efficacy of the algorithm on
Airbus aircraft; however, their algorithm does not incor-
porate cargo time windows. Thomas et al. [37] presented
an algorithm used at Federal Express to pack cargo con-
tainers into Airbus aircraft. Their algorithm attempts to find
a feasible (in terms of CB constraints) packing scheme for
aircraft in which the cargo load has already been selected.
Other efforts have modeled cargo loading as a 3-di-
mensional bin packing problem [9, 30, 35]. Paquay et al.
[30] discuss the problem of optimizing loading a set of
strongly heterogeneous boxes into commercial aircraft
containers with the goal of minimizing the unused volume
within the container. They include center of gravity con-
siderations in their formulation. While this concept could
be applied to pallet buildup (maximizing the usable space
under cargo netting), the pallet buildup step is excluded
from consideration in this research effort since it is often
outside the control of the strategic airlift personnel (i.e.,
airlift customers pack their own pallets). Roesener and Hall
[35] formulated a 3-dimensional packing problem for
constructing pallets for specific positions within aircraft.
2.3 Pickup and delivery problems
Pollaris et al. [31] present a review of vehicle routing
problems, some of which include vehicle balance and/or
pickup and delivery constraints. While focusing on ground-
based vehicles, many of the concepts they discuss could
easily apply to aircraft as well.
Solanki and Southworth [36] detailed an algorithm to
create a schedule for moving cargo and personnel. They
modeled the problem as a pickup and delivery problem
with time windows and developed an insertion heuristic to
build an airlift schedule by sequentially ‘‘adding movement
requirements [i.e., cargo items or personnel] to the sched-
ule one at a time’’ [36]. This technique does not adjust
aircraft loads or the overall schedule after completion; it
simply creates the best possible schedule (that may not be
feasible) given the movement requirements.
Lurkin and Schyns [25] model an airline container
loading problem with pickup and delivery. They consider
both aircraft center of balance constraints as well as cargo
temporal restrictions [25]. They show that this problem is
NP-hard and therefore compare their results to current
manually generated solutions vice optimal (or even ‘‘near’’
optimal) solutions [25].
2.4 Cost and revenue problems
Many other research efforts examine airlift loading from
cost aspects [5, 22, 33, 41]. Reiman et al. [33] discuss
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methods to airlift aircraft fuel efficiency through increased
utilization of aircraft cargo capacity. Li et al. [22] present a
compromised large-scale search neighborhood to aid
freight forwarders in minimizing total freight costs given a
limited number of rented containers.
Bookbinder et al. [5] present four exact solution
methodologies for solving the air cargo consolidation
problem under the pivot-weight scheme. In this problem,
customer’s individual unit load devices (ULDs) are
charged a penalty cost if the loaded weight fails to fall
within an acceptable range; this penalty incentivizes proper
aircraft balancing by creating a financial advantage to the
customer to adhere to these rules [5]. A similar construct is
presented in Sects. 4.5.5 and 5.1 in application to this
research effort: Aircraft are penalized if their allowable
cabin load is outside of an acceptable range.
Vancroonenburg et al. [41] attempted to optimize profit
in the selection of cargo for commercial transportation,
while minimizing ‘‘the deviation between an aircraft’s
center of gravity and a known target value so as to reduce
fuel consumption and improve stability’’ in flight. While
these airlift cost and revenue problems advance aspects of
airlift loading problems, none of these efforts include
temporal restrictions in their problems.
2.5 Literature review summary
While the research efforts discussed in these four cate-
gories of airlift problems examined aspects of the DALP,
none of them holistically consider the entire problem. The
research effort described herein expands upon the current
literature by combining the four interdependent subprob-
lems of packing, partitioning, selecting, and placing cargo
pallets. Additionally, this effort proposes a new heuristic
based algorithm to solve the DALP and demonstrates the
efficacy and efficiency of the algorithm in solving real-
sized problem instances.
3 DALP problem description
3.1 General overview
The DALP involves assigning palletized cargo to specific
pallet positions within available aircraft to minimize
deviations from preferred aircraft load requirements while
satisfying, to the maximum extent possible, the temporal
constraints on the pallets. The temporal constraints define
the available ‘‘window’’ of acceptable days within which
each pallet should reach the destination. Although prefer-
able for a pallet to arrive within its specified time window,
DALP-TS considers solutions in which pallets arrive out-
side the desired window (either early or late). These
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Logist. Res. (2016)9:12
solutions present decision makers with courses of action
(some of which will require a waiver to implement) from
which they can select their preferred option. From an
effectiveness standpoint, the DALP attempts to deliver all
cargo items within the specified time frame; however,
efficiency might preclude sending a strategic airlift aircraft
with a single pallet.
The temporal constraints in the DALP enable aircraft to
conduct multiple trips. The required travel time from the
APOE to APOD, down time at the APOD (for cargo off-
load, crew rest, and aircraft refueling), and travel time from
APOD to APOE are known a priori. Each aircraft returns to
the APOE (home station) from which it originated.
The overall DALP goal includes minimizing not only
the number of flights required to transport all pallets, but
also the total number of aircraft required, while at the same
time minimizing aircraft allowable cabin load (ACL) vio-
lations and pallet temporal violations. An aircraft available
for a DALP scenario but not required in the final solution
can be utilized for other logistical transportation needs.
ACL violations occur when the assigned cargo load weight
surpasses the aircraft’s ACL; pallet temporal violations
occur when a pallet’s arrival date is outside of its accept-
able arrival window. By considering feasible and infeasible
solutions (i.e., those with violations), senior level decision
makers can choose a preferred solution from a set of
solutions in order to balance the effectiveness and effi-
ciency of airlift aircraft.
3.2 Contingency versus sustainment versus planning
The DALP describes the contingency or deployment phase
of military involvement in an area, while [34] addressed
the sustaining phase in the static airlift loading problem
and [2] examined the planning and budgeting phase in their
optimization of military airlift. The contingency phase
considers the flow of items and equipment into a region in
which the US military presence is not yet established or
just beginning; the US Military has a preferred sequencing
for the delivery of items. These can broadly be described as
security items and equipment (e.g., weapons and ammu-
nition), necessity items (e.g., shelter, water purification,
and food), and lastly comfort items (e.g., cots and pillows).
To ensure that items arrive as required (not early or late),
proper sequencing is necessary. A Time-Phased Force
Deployment Document (TPFDD) details earliest and latest
arrival dates for items coinciding with the expected or
actual progression of the operation.
3.3 Computational complexity
The general 2-dimensional bin packing problem can be
defined as follows:
Logist. Res. (2016)9:12
Given a set of M bins of capacity C and a set of N items
of sizes D1, … DN, minimize the number of bins required
to pack all N items.
A Bin packing problem can be single, dual, or multi-
dimensional (i.e., 1-dimensional, 2-dimensional, or C3-
dimensional); [11] presents a general Bin packing problem
formulation. The 2-dimensional bin packing problem,
which [13] proved is NP-Hard, is a special case of the static
airlift loading problem with the aircraft and knapsack
constraints relaxed. Furthermore, the static airlift loading
problem [34] is a special case of the DALP with relaxed
temporal constraints. A polynomial reduction from the
2-dimensional Bin Packing Problem to the DALP is pos-
sible; thus, the DALP is assumed to be NP-Hard.
4 DALP-TS description
The following sections describe the DALP-TS algorithm
developed to solve DALP instances. A complete descrip-
tion of general tabu search algorithms is beyond the scope
of this effort; [15] and [16] present a detailed overview and
provide background information on tabu search algorithms.
4.1 DALP-TS inputs
DALP-TS requires two pre-defined object sets which
contain both physical and temporal data fields for the
available aircraft and pallets. Since the TPFDD specifies
the temporal dates as whole days (i.e., integers) from a
starting reference, all dates for DALP-TS are also given in
whole days. Table 1 presents a summary of these objects
and their data fields which expand upon those presented
developed in [34] by including temporal constraints.
The aircraft input object data fields describe the phys-
ical and temporal aspects of an aircraft. The aircraft iden-
tification number distinguishes individual aircraft, while
the aircraft type details the particular type of aircraft (e.g.,
C-17 or C-5) of an aircraft object. The number of available
pallet positions indicates the total number of pallets which
an aircraft can hold. The ACL is the maximum total weight
loadable into the aircraft; ACL depends upon the take-off
environmental conditions, flight length, flight path
Table 1 DALP-TS inputs and their data fields
Aircraft Identification number, aircraft type, number of available
pallet positions, planning ACL, maximum ACL, CB
lower bound, CB upper bound, optimal CB, ready to load
date, required travel time, and required crew rest time
Pallet Identification number, loaded weight, loaded height,
available load date, latest arrival date, and required
delivery date
Page 5 of 18 12
Table 2 Aircraft type with planning and maximum ACLs
Aircraft Description Planning Maximum
type # ACL (pounds) ACL (pounds)
1 C-130 (6 pallets) 25,000 40,000
2 C-17 (logistics 90,000 175,000
SYSTEM–18 pallets)
3 C-17 (air drop system– 90,000 175,000
11 pallets)
4 C-5 (36 pallets) 150,000 291,000
5 KC-10 (17 pallets) 80,000 150,000
6 KC-10 (23 pallets) 80,000 150,000
7 C-141 (13 pallets) 46,000 70,000
8 KC-135 (6 pallets) 30,000 40,000
conditions, landing environmental conditions, and avail-
able refueling aircraft. An aircraft type has two different
ACLs: planning ACL and maximum ACL. The planning
ACL is a conservative guideline for the aircraft’s total load
based on average flight conditions; this value is used by
military planning personnel to determine a rough estimate
for the number of aircraft required for an operation. The
maximum ACL is the structural load limitation of an air-
craft type; the maximum ACL is the highest value for ACL
under ‘‘perfect’’ flight conditions. Attempting to fly an
aircraft with a load exceeding, the maximum ACL will
cause physical damage to the aircraft. Table 2 presents the
US Air Force transportation aircraft types including their
planning and maximum ACLs; these are the same aircraft
examined in the static airlift loading problem by [34].
A loaded aircraft’s CB is the distance (measured in
inches) of the cargo load CB from an associated reference
line. For an aircraft’s longitudinal CB, the reference line is
at or near the front of the aircraft (varies for each aircraft
type); for aircraft with two pallet rows, the reference line
for the lateral CB follows the center of the aircraft from
nose to tail. An aircraft’s CB is computed as the sum of the
pallets’ moments divided by the total weight of the cargo,
where a pallet’s moment is the product of the pallet weight
and the distance from the associated reference line. For a
given cargo load’s total weight, each aircraft type stipulates
a lower and upper bound CB which enables safe flight;
additionally, each aircraft type specifies an optimal or
target CB location for the best fuel consumption rate at a
given cargo load’s total weight. The ready to load date
specifies the earliest date the aircraft is available for use.
The required travel time indicates the amount of time
required for the aircraft to travel from the APOE to APOD.
The crew rest time specifies the amount of time required
for the crew to rest at the APOD prior to returning to the
APOE. Since the DALP’s initial focus is to be effective
first and efficient second, the aircraft set is sufficiently
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large to transport all pallets (i.e., available aircraft is not a
limitation in solving the DALP). Senior decision makers
may modify the set of aircraft to coincide with their
preferences.
The pallet input object presented in Table 1 contains
three physical and four temporal data fields. The pallet
object physical data fields detail an identification number
and the height and weight of the loaded pallet which
indicate whether a pallet feasibly fits into an aircraft’s
pallet position. Utilization of the military standard 463L
pallet system removes the necessity of including length and
width dimensions for a loaded pallet, which are
10800 9 8800 . The pallet’s available load date corresponds
to the earliest date available for loading on an aircraft; as
such, it is strictly enforced by DALP-TS. Violations of the
remaining three temporal fields are allowed but penalized.
Pallets reaching the APOD prior to the earliest arrival date
may arrive before the necessary equipment and/or per-
sonnel required for cargo unloading are in place and may
also cause port congestion issues (i.e., exceeding airfield
storage capacity) at the APOD. The pallet latest arrival date
and pallet required delivery date are very similar and often
identical. The latest arrival date is the latest date by which
the pallet should arrive at the APOD to enable proper
unloading and assembly; the required delivery date is the
latest date by which the pallet must arrive at the APOD
prior to the deploying force departing the APOD.
4.2 DALP-TS objects
While exploring the solution space, DALP-TS creates two
sets of objects: an aircraft trip corresponding to each
APOE/APOD round trip and a solution object corre-
sponding to each solution visited. Table 3 lists these
objects and their data fields which expand upon those
developed in [34] by including the temporal constraints.
Note that the aircraft trip object only changes when a tabu
search move modifies the aircraft’s load; the solution
object changes for each new solution examined.
The aircraft trip object augments the fields of the aircraft
input object with data fields relating to the cargo load,
objective function contribution, and trip temporal infor-
mation. The trip number indexes a specific aircraft trip and
Table 3 DALP-TS objects and their data fields
Aircraft Trip index, loaded cargo weight, number of loaded
trip pallets, longitudinal CB, lateral CB, objective function
weight usage, objective function space usage, objective
function longitudinal CB, objective function lateral CB,
ready to load date, departure date, arrival date, and trip
number
Solution Number of aircraft used, number of flights flown,
solution array, and objective function value
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Logist. Res. (2016)9:12
details the total number of flights flown by each aircraft.
The loaded cargo weight and number of loaded pallets
details the cargo assigned to the aircraft; the longitudinal
and lateral CBs correspond to these values for the given
cargo load. To accelerate solution updating, DALP-TS
maintains aspects of the aircraft trip’s contribution to the
objective function: weight usage, space usage, longitudinal
CB, and lateral CB.
The aircraft ready to load date is the earliest date upon
which an aircraft can be loaded and depart the APOE. After
selecting a pallet cargo load, DALP-TS computes an
appropriate aircraft departure date from the APOE that
considers pallet available to load date. The aircraft arrival
date describes the date upon which the aircraft arrives at
the APOD, incorporating the departure date and the
required travel time from APOE to APOD. The aircraft
departure date can be the same as the ready to load date;
however, delaying the departure date to a later date may
prevent or reduce the amount of pallet temporal violations.
The ready to load date for each aircraft’s first trip is day 1.
The ready to load date of each subsequent trip for a par-
ticular aircraft considers the previous trip’s departure date
and the travel, down, and return time.
The solution object details the required aspect of a
solution. The number of aircraft used and number of flights
flown are simply counts for aircraft and trips utilized in a
solution. The solution array indicates the assignment of
pallets to aircraft trips, while the objective function value
denotes a single value for solution comparison.
4.3 DALP-TS solution array
The DALP-TS solution representation assigns pallets to
specific positions in available aircraft. By the US Air Force
designation, each aircraft’s pallet position has a specific
reference number. In aircraft with a single row of pallet
positions, the numbering is sequential from nose to tail; in
aircraft with parallel rows of pallet positions, the pallet
position designation is 1L, 1R, 2L, 2R, etc. For example, in
a C-17 aircraft in the logistics configuration, 18 pallet
positions exist; Fig. 2 graphically depicts this configura-
tion. The pallet position closest to the nose of the aircraft
on the left (port) side is designated 1L, and the pallet
adjacent to it is 1R; the pallet positions at the tail of the
aircraft are 9L and 9R. DALP-TS uses the US Air Force
designation for single row aircraft and a modified version
for double row aircraft (i.e., the designation changes from
1L, 1R, 2L, …, 9R to 1, 2, 3, …, 18).
The structure used in the DALP-TS solution represen-
tation prepends the aircraft’s index and trip index to the
array; this is an expansion of the structure used in [34] with
the addition of the trip index. As a clarifying example,
consider two C-130 aircraft available to transport 15
Logist. Res. (2016)9:12
pallets, with indices given by: 1, 2, …, 15. A possible
solution for this problem is:
ð1; 1; 4; 5; 6; 1; 2; 3Þð2; 1; 7; 8; 9; 0; 10; 11Þ
ð2; 2; 12 13; 0; 0; 14; 15Þð1; 2; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0Þð3; 0Þ
In each of the first four parenthetical subsets, the initial two
numbers correspond to the aircraft’s index and trip number,
respectively; the remaining numbers indicate loaded pallet
indices. A pallet index of zero corresponds to an empty
pallet position. In this example problem, aircraft 1, trip 1
has pallet 4 in position 1, pallet 5 in position 2, etc. Aircraft
1, trip 2 has no pallets loaded. The final parenthetical
subset represents a ‘‘storage aircraft’’ (with capacity
equivalent to the total number of pallets) that is used during
neighborhood searches. This concept is analogous to the
‘‘Big Bin’’ previously used in tabu search algorithms; in
reality, it corresponds to an APOE’s hangars or tarmac
storage area [19]. The index for this ‘‘storage aircraft’’ is
one greater than the total number of aircraft without a trip
index. In this example, the 0 in (3, 0) indicates that this
‘‘aircraft’’ is empty (i.e., all pallets are loaded on aircraft).
4.4 DALP-TS initial solution generator
DALP-TS attempts to efficiently produce a quality initial
solution by inserting pallets into aircraft trips with arrival
dates within the pallet’s acceptable window and with suf-
ficient remaining space and weight capacity. At the time of
this research, no software or methodology was used by the
Department of Defense to generate solutions to a DALP;
however, a software program called the automated air load
planning system (AALPS) was used to solve static airlift
loading problem instances (i.e., those problems without
temporal restrictions). As a result, DALP-TS utilizes an
analogous extension of the AALPS loading procedure to
generate an initial solution to the DALP.
To generate an initial solution, DALP-TS sequentially
sorts the pallets by increasing available load date, earliest
arrival date, latest arrival date, and required delivery date,
and then by decreasing weight, at this point, all pallets are
theoretically ‘‘loaded’’ in the ‘‘storage aircraft.’’ The DALP-
TS initial solution generator selects the pallet at the head of
the sorted pallet list. Next, the best suitable aircraft is
selected. Three states of feasible (i.e., no temporal or ACL
violations) aircraft trip availability exist for every pallet: (1)
At least one non-empty aircraft (i.e., with one or more pal-
lets loaded) is scheduled to be at the APOE with feasible
temporal constraints and sufficient weight and space
capacity remaining to support the pallet. In this case, DALP-
TS selects the aircraft with the largest ratio of ACL to
number of pallet positions and the smallest weight capacity
remaining. (2) An available aircraft has returned from a trip
and has a ready to load date which enables the pallet to arrive
Page 7 of 18 12
on or before its latest arrival date. In state 2, DALP-TS the
aircraft with the largest ratio of ACL to number of pallet
positions and the largest trip index. (3) No additional aircraft
trips satisfy the pallet’s temporal window requirements. For
state 3, DALP-TS utilizes the next unused aircraft from the
user-provided list of available aircraft.
After selecting the aircraft, DALP-TS removes the pallet
from the ‘‘storage aircraft’’ and assigns it to the first
available position in the aircraft. If the aircraft’s trip is in
state 1, no changes to the aircraft departure date or solution
object are necessary; however, updates are required for
states 2 or 3. First, DALP-TS increments the number of
flights flown in the solution object. DALP-TS also updates
the aircraft’s departure date and arrival date to reflect the
new temporal constraints. DALP-TS sets the aircraft arrival
date identical to the pallet latest arrival date and adjusts the
aircraft’s departure date to incorporate travel time; this also
causes the insertion of an additional aircraft trip in the
solution object. The ready to load date of this trip incor-
porates the previous trip’s departure date and total travel
time. For this trip, the aircraft is empty but available for
future loading. If the initial solution generator is in state 3,
the aircraft is being used for the first time; the aircraft
departure date is updated such that the aircraft arrival date
corresponds with the pallet’s earliest arrival date.
The DALP-TS initial solution generation process
ignores CB constraints; it only considers weight and tem-
poral constraints. DALP-TS adjusts the lateral and longi-
tudinal CB as the first step in its dynamic neighborhood
selection process.
While feasibility is not an initial solution requirement
for TS, the DALP-TS initial solution generator produces a
feasible solution (with respect to ACL and temporal vio-
lations) for a given set of pallets and aircraft. The proper
assignment of a pallet to an aircraft trip usually yields
quality (i.e., fewer aircraft and aircraft trips required) initial
solutions. Selecting the best arrival date (and correspond-
ingly the departure date) for an aircraft trip receiving its
first pallet assignment is imperative in producing quality
initial solutions.
4.5 DALP-TS formulation
The DALP-TS formulation is a relaxation of constraints
into the objective function subject to integrality restrictions
on the decision variables. The objective function to be
minimized is a combination of penalties and usage fees.
The components of the objective function are: (1) aircraft
usage fee, (2) aircraft load penalty, (3) lateral center of
balance penalty, (4) longitudinal center of balance penalty,
and (5) temporal violation penalty. These penalties con-
sider i = 1,…,I pallets and j = 1,…,J available aircraft
which can make up to k = 1,…,K trips.
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12 Page 8 of 18 Logist. Res. (2016)9:12

4.5.1 Aircraft usage fee 4.5.3 Lateral and longitudinal center of balance penalties

DALP-TS incorporates a usage fee, which varies with
aircraft type, for each aircraft trip employed. DALP-TS
charges an increased usage fee for the first aircraft trip;
therefore, it is preferred to use an additional aircraft trip
than to use an aircraft for the first time. One goal of DALP-
TS is to transport all pallets with both the fewest trips and
the fewest aircraft employed.
Equation (1) presents the computation of this penalty:
X
J þ1 X
K two rows of pallets; for these aircraft, the reference line
Cjk Ajk
j¼1 k¼1 ð1Þ
Ajk 2 f0; 1g 8j ¼ 1; . . .; J þ 1; k ¼ 1; . . .; K
where Cjk is the usage fee (cost) associated with trip k of
aircraft j; Ajk is 1 if trip k of aircraft j is used and 0
otherwise; J ? 1 is the number of aircraft available (in-
cluding the ‘‘storage aircraft’’). The cost of using the
storage aircraft is significantly higher than that for any
aircraft trip, denoted by C(J?1)1 -
CjkVj = 1, …, J; k = 1, …, K, thereby driving the search
to regions where the storage aircraft is empty. Additionally,
the cost of using an aircraft for the first time is higher than
using an additional aircraft trip, denoted by Cj1  Cjk-
Vj = 1, …, J; k = 2, …, K, thereby enabling DALP-TS to
encourage the use of fewer aircraft.
4.5.2 Aircraft load penalty
DALP-TS uses the aircraft load penalty to encourage
maximum usage of the aircraft’s planning ACL. Because
the planning ACL represents a soft constraint, DALP-TS
evaluates aircraft loads which exceed this value; however,
a penalty applies to this violation. To enable a broad search
of the solution space, DALP-TS explores, but does not
save, solutions which exceed the maximum ACL. The
computation for these loaded aircraft penalties is:
K 
 P 
XJ X
ACLj  ni¼1 Wijk
Xjk
j¼1 k¼1
ACLj
 P 
X J X K 
ACLj  ni¼1 Wijk   ð2Þ
þ 1  Xjk
j¼1 k¼1
ACLj
Xjk 2 f0; 1g 8j ¼ 1; . . .; J; k ¼ 1; . . .; K
where ACLj is the planning ACL for aircraft j; Wijk is the
weight of pallet i loaded on trip k of aircraft j; and Xjk is 1 if
the total pallet weight on trip k of aircraft j is less than its
planning ACL. Although these equations will provide an
identical value with either Xjk = 0 or 1, they have different
scaling factors in the final version of the objective function,
which is detailed in Sect. 4.5.5.
The lateral and longitudinal CB penalties force DALP-TS
to explore areas of the solution space with preferred
assignments of pallets to specific positions within an air-
craft. DALP-TS computes an aircraft’s CB as the sum of
the pallets’ moments divided by the total weight of the
cargo, where a pallet’s moment is the product of the pallet
weight and the distance from an associated reference line.
DALP-TS only computes the lateral CB for aircraft with
traverses the center of the aircraft from nose to tail. The
reference line for the longitudinal CB differs for all aircraft
types; however, for most aircraft, it is at or near the nose of
the aircraft. The general CB computation for the kth trip of
aircraft j is:
Pn  
i¼1 Wijk  Dij
CBjk ¼ Pn   ð3Þ
i¼1 Wijk
where n is the total number of pallets loaded on trip k of
aircraft j; Wijk is the weight of pallet i loaded on trip k of
aircraft j; and Dij is the distance of pallet i from the asso-
ciated reference line on aircraft j.
DALP-TS computes a CB penalty based on the squared
difference between the aircraft’s target CB value (which
produces the best fuel consumption rate) for the given
cargo weight and the aircraft’s loaded CB value. DALP-TS
computes the lateral CB penalty as a deviation from the
aircraft’s centerline:
0 Pn  12
XJ X K
i¼1 W ijk  D iðLatÞ j
@ Pn   A Ajk
i¼1 Wijk
ð4Þ
j¼1 k¼1
Ajk 2 f0; 1g 8j ¼ 1; . . .; J; k ¼ 1; . . .; K
where n is the total number of pallets loaded on trip k of
aircraft j; Wijk is the weight of pallet i loaded on trip k of
aircraft j; DiðLatÞ j is the distance of pallet i from the asso-
ciated reference line on aircraft j (i.e., the aircraft’s cen-
terline); and Ajk is 1 if trip k of aircraft j is used and 0
otherwise. Note that for the aircraft considered herein that
utilize the 463L pallet, DiðLatÞ j is constant for a specific
aircraft type j; the value will be negative for pallets to the
left of centerline and positive for those on the right.
The longitudinal CB is computed from the reference
datum line, which is at or near the nose of the aircraft and
varies for different types of aircraft. The longitudinal CB
computation considers situations where the loaded aircraft
CB is within and outside the upper and/or lower bound
values. Because the algorithm does not constrain the search
to feasible solutions and prohibits returning to previous
solutions for a specified number of iterations, DALP-TS
explores larger portions of the solution space, thereby

123
Logist. Res. (2016)9:12 Page 9 of 18 12

avoiding traps of local optimal solutions; however, solu- Yjk = 1 or 0; the contribution to the objective function
tions that are outside the acceptable range produce dan- varies according to their associated penalty multiplier,
gerous flight conditions and are not saved. The longitudinal which reflects their relative importance and is explained in
CB computation is: Sect. 4.5.5.
0 Pn  12 Figure 1 presents the US Department of Defense form
X J X K
i¼1 W ijk  D iðLongÞ j utilized by load planners to create aircraft load plans and
@TCBj  Pn   A Ajk Yjk
W ijk
perform hand-calculations on CB on C-5 aircraft [38],
j¼1 k¼1 i¼1
while Fig. 2 illustrates the form used for C-17 load plans
0 Pn   12
and CB calculations [39]. These forms present the dis-
X i¼1 Wijk  DiðLongÞ j
J X K  
þ @TCBj  Pn   A Ajk 1  Yjk tance (in inches) of the center position for each pallet
j¼1 k¼1 i¼1 Wijk from the reference data line (i.e., DiðLongÞ j ); these values
Ajk ; Yjk 2 f0; 1g 8j ¼ 1; . . .; J; k ¼ 1; . . .; K are indicated below the black arrows that are above the
aircraft diagram. These forms also illustrate the com-
ð5Þ
plexity required to manually configure an airlift aircraft
where n is the total number of pallets loaded on trip k of flight; the second sheet for each form (not included)
aircraft j; TCBj is the target center of balance point for the allows for the manifesting of additional cargo items.
given cargo load (this value indicates the CB at which an Furthermore, the target center of balance specification is
aircraft experiences the best fuel consumption rate and not explicitly stated on these forms; however, this value
varies by aircraft type and loaded cargo weight); Wijk is the is included in the technical manuals utilized by load-
weight of pallet i loaded on trip k of aircraft j; DiðLongÞ j is the masters in training for and maintaining their air load
longitudinal distance of pallet i from the associated refer- planner status. Figure 2 demonstrates that two configu-
ence line of aircraft j; Ajk is 1 if trip k of aircraft j is used rations exist for pallets within the C-17: the center loa-
and 0 otherwise; and Yjk is 1 if the aircraft’s CB is within ded 11 pallet positions correspond to the Airdrop System
the upper and lower CB bounds and 0 otherwise. Note that (ADS), while the two column 18 pallet positions align
the two parts of this equation will have the same value if with the logistics configuration. As Fig. 1 indicates, the

Fig. 1 DD Form 2130-1, C-5 load plan (w/cargo pallet positions) [38]

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12 Page 10 of 18 Logist. Res. (2016)9:12

Fig. 2 DD Form 2130-13, C-17 load plan (w/cargo pallet positions) [39]

C-5 aircraft is not rated to conduct airdrop missions, so and latest arrival date multiplied by the pallet weight and
it only contains a logistics configuration. a scaling factor.
The computation for penalty is:
4.5.4 Temporal violation penalty X
K X
J X
I
1
ðtEAD  tAD ÞWijk Ajk Zijk
k¼1 j¼1 i¼1
Each individual pallet has an acceptable window of K X
X J X
I
2
arrival dates and a strict lower bound on its departure þ ðtAD  tLAD ÞWijk Ajk Zijk
k¼1 j¼1 i¼1
date. It is preferable for a pallet to arrive after its earliest
arrival date and before its latest arrival date; no specific Ajk 2 f0; 1g 8j ¼ 1; . . .; J; k ¼ 1; . . .; K
1 2
date within the acceptable window is preferable to any Zijk ; Zijk 2 f0; 1g 8i ¼ 1; . . .; I; j ¼ 1; . . .; J; k ¼ 1; . . .; K
other. DALP-TS allows exploration of solutions with ð6Þ
arrival dates outside the acceptable region by applying
penalties to these violations. The approach used by [21] where tEAD and tLAD are the pallet’s earliest and latest
and [26] for temporal violations involved penalizing the arrival dates, respectively; tAD is the pallet’s actual arrival
1
objective function by a product of the number of days date; Ajk is 1 if aircraft j flies trip k, 0 otherwise; Zijk is 1 if
the item arrives after the required delivery date and the the arrival date of trip k of aircraft j is before pallet i’s
item’s weight. DALP-TS utilizes a similar approach by earliest arrival date, 0 otherwise; and Z2ijk is 1 if the arrival
penalizing both early and late arrivals; however, rather date of trip k of aircraft j is after pallet i’s latest arrival date,
than utilizing the required delivery date, DALP-TS 0 otherwise.
considers the more restrictive latest arrival date. Pallets
arriving prior to their earliest arrival date incur a penalty 4.5.5 DALP-TS formulation
equal to the difference between the earliest arrival date
and arrival date multiplied by the pallet weight and a The DALP-TS formulation additively combines the pre-
scaling factor, which is detailed in Sect. 4.5.5. Likewise, viously described penalties as constraints relaxed into the
pallets arriving after their latest arrival date incur a objective function to be minimized. Each constraint
penalty equal to the difference between the arrival date relaxation is multiplied by a scaling factor (k) which

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Logist. Res. (2016)9:12 Page 11 of 18 12

ensures that each fee or penalty receives the appropriate the aircraft. To accomplish this, DALP-TS uses three
level of consideration. Since DALP-TS is a decision- search neighborhoods to locate quality solutions near the
making aid, the determination of the scaling factor values current solution.
enables decision maker inputs prior to initiating the algo-
rithm. Thus, the scaling factors are not fixed values but 4.6 Search neighborhoods
rather relate the relative importance of the penalties: a
relatively higher scaling factor indicates a penalty (i.e., an DALP-TS utilizes three search neighborhoods to traverse
allowable violation) that is more important relative to the the solution space: (1) unload entire aircraft, (2) intra-air-
other penalties. As an example, a decision maker may craft pallet swap, and (3) inter-aircraft pallet swap. DALP-
decide that airlift effectiveness (i.e., on time delivery) is TS calls each neighborhood under specific strategic
more important than efficiency (i.e., minimizing the circumstances.
required number and fully utilizing all aircraft); the scaling The unload entire aircraft neighborhood removes pal-
factor associated with Eq. (6), cargo temporal violations lets from a selected aircraft trip and strategically inserts
would be increased relative to Eqs. (1) and (2), aircraft them onto non-empty aircraft trips. This neighborhood
usage and aircraft loading, respectively. Combining these swaps all pallets from a single aircraft with empty positions
concepts with the previously defined equations, the com- on other aircraft, resulting in an unloaded aircraft. DALP-
plete DALP-TS formulation is: TS transfers the pallets in order of decreasing weight into
  non-empty aircraft with at least one empty pallet position
1 2
min f Ajk ; Xjk ; Yjk ; Zijk ; Zijk and an acceptable arrival date. If multiple aircraft contain
acceptable arrival dates, DALP-TS selects the aircraft with
 P  the greatest weight capacity remaining. If multiple pallet
XJ X K 
ACLj  ni¼1 Wijk positions are empty in an aircraft, DALP-TS assigns the
þ k2 Xjk
j¼1 k¼1
ACLj pallet to the empty position closest to the front of the air-
K 
 P  craft. For this move neighborhood, DALP-TS does not
XJ X
ACLj  ni¼1 Wijk  
þ k3 1  Xjk consider aircraft CB; the algorithm utilizes the two other
j¼1 k¼1
ACLj
P  ! move neighborhoods to correct violations of aircraft CB. If
XJ X K I
i¼1 Wijk  DiLat no aircraft has an acceptable arrival window, DALP-TS
þ k4 PI   Ajk
j¼1 k¼1 i¼1 Wijk
chooses the aircraft with the smallest amount of pallet
0 PI  1 2 temporal violation penalty. The unloaded aircraft trip is no
X i¼1 Wijk  DiðLongÞ j
J X K longer considered available for pallet transportation. This
þ k5 @TCBj  PI   A Ajk Yjk
neighborhood endeavors to decrease the total number of
j¼1 k¼1 i¼1 Wijk
trips required.
0 PI  1 2
XJ X K
i¼1 Wijk  DiðLongÞ j   The intra-aircraft pallet swap neighborhood evaluates
þ k6 @TCBj  PI   A Ajk 1  Yjk every possible two-tuple (swapping two pallets or inserting
j¼1 k¼1 i¼1 Wijk
a pallet into an empty position) within a single aircraft; this
X
K X
J X
I follows the structure developed by [34]. DALP-TS ignores
1
þ k7 ðtEAD  tAD ÞWijk Ajk Zijk
swaps of pallets with identical weights and temporal con-
k¼1 j¼1 i¼1
straints due to the null objective function effect. DALP-TS
X
K X
J X
I
þ k8 2
ðtAD  tLAD ÞWijk Ajk Zijk selects the best (in terms of objective function value) non-
k¼1 j¼1 i¼1 tabu move. Unfortunately, the best move could worsen
(i.e., increase) this value. The lowest indexed pallet may
Subject to: not return to its previous position for a specified number
(i.e., tabu tenure) of search iterations.
Ajk ; Xjk ; Yjk ; 2 f0; 1g 8j ¼ 1; . . .; J; k ¼ 1; . . .; K The inter-aircraft pallet swap neighborhood evaluates
1 2
Zijk ; Zijk 2 f0; 1g 8i ¼ 1; . . .; I; j ¼ 1; . . .; J; k ¼ 1; . . .; K moves between two non-empty aircraft. DALP-TS evalu-
ates every possible two-tuple between two aircraft, ignor-
Several aspects of this formulation are nonlinear, thereby ing swaps of pallets with identical weights and temporal
enhancing the selection of a heuristic methodology (i.e., constraints. DALP-TS chooses the best non-tabu move and
tabu search) in determining high quality solutions. Mini- prevents returning a pallet to its donor aircraft for tabu
mizing the objective function encourages DALP-TS to tenure search iterations.
search for solutions utilizing a minimal number of aircraft Numerous changes to an aircraft trip’s temporal infor-
and aircraft trips, with pallets arriving within their mation results from the unload entire aircraft and inter-
acceptable arrival window and ideally positioned within aircraft pallet swap neighborhoods. First, an aircraft trip

123
12 Page 12 of 18
departure date might require modification to minimize
pallet temporal violations. If the current departure date of a
trip is later than the ready to load date, DALP-TS can
decrease the departure date; however, the algorithm does
not schedule an aircraft trip’s departure date prior to its
ready to load date. Decreasing a departure date only occurs
if doing so improves the solution. Changing the departure
date to a date which causes infeasibilities in the majority of
the loaded pallets is unproductive. Decreasing the depar-
ture date of an aircraft trip creates a series of ready to load
date decreases in subsequent aircraft trips; DALP-TS
modifies the departure date of the succeeding aircraft trips
if doing so improves the overall objective function value.
Note that the trip ready to load date is the earliest date upon
which an aircraft may depart; this date does not necessarily
correspond to the best departure date for a given pallet
load. By increasing a trip’s departure date, DALP-TS could
trigger a series of updates to the subsequent aircraft trips.
This occurs when a trip’s altered departure date causes the
ready to load date of the succeeding trip to be after its
departure date; DALP-TS then equates the departure date
with the ready to load date.
DALP-TS utilizes these search neighborhoods to tra-
verse both the feasible and infeasible solution space. The
algorithm incorporates varying levels of tabu tenure and a
tabu memory structure to escape local optimal solutions
thereby exploring diverse solutions.
4.7 DALP-TS tabu memory structure
DALP-TS utilizes a tabu memory structure similar to that
developed by [34] to guide the search to differing neigh-
borhoods in the solution space by prohibiting the return to a
solution with certain attributes for a number of iterations.
The DALP-TS tabu memory structure is a 3-dimensional
array of integers of size:
ðNumber of pallets  Max number of aircraft pallet
positions  ( number of aircraft trips + 1 )Þ
The value Max number of pallet positions indicates the
largest total number of pallet positions in any of the
available aircraft. The ‘‘?1’’ on ‘‘number of aircraft trips
?1’’ accounts for the previously described storage aircraft.
After DALP-TS performs a move previously described
in the search neighborhood section, returning the pal-
let(s) to its/their previous position on the aircraft trip is
made tabu for a certain number of iterations specified by
the tabu tenure. As previous research indicates, an adaptive
tabu search mechanism improves search effectiveness [19].
Thus, DALP-TS adaptively modifies the tabu tenure value
according to the level of objective function’s improvement
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Logist. Res. (2016)9:12
resulting from the neighborhood move. A major improving
move applies a unit decrease in the tabu tenure value, while
a dis-improving move results in a unit increase in this
value. If the improving move provides an objective func-
tion improvement below a predetermined minimum
threshold level, no change is applied to the tabu tenure.
Additional details on the levels of objective function
improvements are presented in the next section.
The iteration count (i.e., tabu tenure ? current itera-
tion value) at which a return move is allowed is inserted
into the tabu memory structure array in the cell corre-
sponding to the pallet’s identification number, pallet
position number within the aircraft, and aircraft trip
number. Return moves are not allowed until the iteration
count reaches this value. This helps DALP-TS to avoid
local optimal by forcing the search to progress away
from a specific solution.
4.8 DALP-TS stopping criteria
DALP-TS first generates an initial solution from the given
pallets and aircraft. Since the initial solution generator
ignores CB, DALP-TS performs a series of CB improving
moves within an aircraft using the intra-aircraft swap
neighborhood; however, the algorithm halts after reaching
a predetermined maximum number of these iterations (Max
Fix). DALP-TS then initiates the dynamic neighborhood
selection portion of the search. Limiting computation time
is not a novel concept as demonstrated by [25]. Many
companies determine that it is not fiscally productive to
expend the additional time required to find the best possible
solution; the small amount of cost savings does not justify
the delay in operations.
DALP-TS categorizes the intra-aircraft swap moves as
major improving, minor improving or non-improving. A
major improving move decreases the overall objective
function value by at least a predetermined improvement
percentage, while a minor improving move decreases the
overall objective function value less than or equal to this
value. A non-improving move increases the objective
function value.
DALP-TS utilizes two counters (both initialized to zero)
in the neighborhood selection process: non-improving
move count and minor improving move count. DALP-TS
increments the non-improving move count value after
selecting a non-improving move and resets the value to
zero after selecting either type of improving move. Like-
wise, DALP-TS increments the minor improving move
count value after selecting a minor improving move and
resets the value to zero after selecting a major improving
move; however, after selecting a non-improving move, the
minor improving move count does not change. This logic
Logist. Res. (2016)9:12
prevents DALP-TS from indefinitely cycling between non-
improving and minor improving moves. DALP-TS halts
when either of these counters reach a predetermined ces-
sation value (maximum value).
Due to large memory requirements, cycling detection
is not explicitly included in DALP-TS; however, cycling
is prevented by use of the tabu memory structure,
Adaptive tabu tenure, unload entire aircraft neighbor-
hood, and the non-improving and minor improving move
counters. The rationale for this choice is that the tabu
memory structure is based on an individual pallet being
placed upon a specific pallet location within a specific
aircraft on a specific trip. The relatively large number of
pallets undergoing placement and the refined granularity
of the adaptive tabu tenure precludes the necessity of
explicit cycling detection. Additionally, as is indicated in
Sect. 4.9.2, DALP-TS incorporates the unload entire
aircraft neighborhood after the occurrence of a pre-
specified number of minor or non-improving moves, both
of which are less than the initial tabu tenure value. Thus,
if the search has stabilized in an unproductive area of the
search region, DALP-TS will unload an aircraft before it
will allow a pallet to return to its previous position.
4.9 Local search procedure
DALP-TS strategically employs the three previously
described search neighborhoods during the algorithmic
progression. DALP-TS incorporates a dynamic neighbor-
hood selection process to select the most appropriate
neighborhood given one of three algorithmic search states,
using predetermined Max fix, Max minor improving move,
and Max non-improving move values:
1. (Aircraft CB violation) \ (Fix CB count B Max fix
value)
2. (Minor improving move count = Max minor move
value) [ (non-improving move count = Max non-
improving move value)
3. Neither case 1 or 2 applies.
4.9.1 Search state 1
An aircraft longitudinal CB window violation often can be
corrected with the Intra-Aircraft Swap neighborhood.
There are three ways to escape state 1: (1) the CB window
is satisfied, (2) the CB window is unsatisfied for a prede-
termined number of iterations (Max Fix Value) which
indicates that timely progress is not present, or (3) the CB
window violation worsens. These moves result in relatively
small changes to the objective function value by changing
the CB of a single aircraft.
Page 13 of 18 12
4.9.2 Search state 2
A state 2 situation invokes the unload entire aircraft
neighborhood in the following circumstances:
1. If minor improving moves proceed for Max minor
improving move value iterations, DALP-TS has stabi-
lized in a local plateau. Unloading an entire aircraft
constitutes a diversification strategy which is an effort
to navigate toward a region with better solutions.
2. If DALP-TS produces Max non-improving move value
consecutive non-improving moves, diversification aids in
escaping from a nonproductive region of the solution space.
Because DALP-TS imposes temporal and weight
restrictions upon aircraft trips, the algorithm does not
consider unloading lightly loaded aircraft; temporal con-
straints may necessitate such a loading schema. ‘‘Lightly
loaded’’ aircraft are those with a cargo weight less than
25 % of the ACL. This search neighborhood selects the
lightest loaded aircraft that has a cargo load greater than
25 % of the ACL and results in relatively large changes to
the objective function value by removing an entire aircraft
from future consideration.
4.9.3 Search state 3
If neither state 1 nor state 2 applies, DALP-TS uses the
Inter-Aircraft Swap neighborhood, resulting in mid-sized
objective function value changes.
4.10 Solution output
DALP-TS is a decision-making aid and, as such, allows
decision makers to select a preferred solution for a given
situation. Senior military and civilian leaders evaluate the
risks and rewards associated with different options and make
decisions based on their knowledge of the overall situation;
thus, they receive multiple options, called ‘‘courses of
action,’’ from which they choose their preferred solution. To
accommodate this selection system, DALP-TS reports up to
four solutions which fall into four group types: (1) Feasible,
(2) ACL Violations, (3) Temporal Violations, and (4) Both
ACL and Temporal Violations.
If DALP-TS encounters solutions from a specific solu-
tion type, the algorithm stores the best solution (i.e., a
solution with a lower objective function value will replace
the current best solution). The first solution type, ‘‘Feasi-
ble,’’ satisfies all constraints—there are no ACL violations
and all pallets have an arrival date that is after the earliest
arrival date but before the latest arrival date. The next three
solution types are technically infeasible, but the benefits of
these violations may enable the decision makers to choose
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12 Page 14 of 18
them over a strictly feasible solution. The second solution
type allows the total loaded pallet weight of one or more
aircraft to exceed the aircraft’s planning ACL by no more
than a predetermined ACL percentage (Planning ACL Max
Violation). The third solution type includes those solutions
which have violations in at least one pallet arrival date
(either early or late). The last solution type encompasses
solutions which both ACL violations and pallet temporal
violations at the previously described levels.
5 Computational results
DALP-TS demonstrates its efficacy against 100 distinct
problem instances for each of six realistic scenarios. At the
time of this research, no previously developed baseline
method or solution methodology to the DALP existed.
Thus, the DALP-TS results are compared against a com-
puted lower bound on the number of aircraft trips required.
The technique of comparing computed results to non-op-
timal solutions is not without precedent in airlift loading;
[23, 25, 29], and [41] compared their results to manually
computed values from a human subject matter expert (i.e.,
‘‘loadmaster’’) rather than computed optimal solutions. The
DALP-TS initial solution extends the greedy algorithm
used by AALPS to include temporal constraints. Thus, any
reduction in the required number of trips from the initial
solution to the final reported solution is an improvement
over the current methodology.
5.1 Constant values
Prior to executing DALP-TS on the six scenarios, extensive
testing focused on generating quality solutions across the
solution spaces for a variety of problem instances produced
the scaling factor and constant values utilized by DALP-
TS. To accomplish this testing, values for the penalty
factors, usage fees, and the search/move values were var-
ied. The goal of this testing was to determine the levels
which produced the best results in terms of objective
function value and required aircraft trips for the 100
instances of the six problem scenarios. Since DALP-TS is a
decision-making aid, the scaling factors and constant val-
ues are designed such that they can be adjusted as addi-
tional senior leader inputs regarding the relative
importance of constraints are received.
The resulting values for the scaling factors are:
k1 ¼ 1; k2 ¼ 1; k3 ¼ 30; k4 ¼ 1; k5 ¼ 1; k6 ¼ 800; k7
¼ 1; k8 ¼ 1
In the absence of actual decision maker inputs for their
relative importance, the majority of the scaling factors
123
Logist. Res. (2016)9:12
were fixed to a value of 1 to allow each penalty to have a
similar impact on the objective function value. The only
values not initialized to 1 are those for aircraft overloading
(k3 = 30) and aircraft longitudinal CB penalty (k6 = 800).
Although DALP-TS searches through solutions with cargo
load total weights exceeding the Planning ACL values,
these solutions are not the preferred type of solutions.
Thus, there is a larger scaling factor associated with this
penalty. An aircraft trip with a longitudinal CB that is
outside the allowable limits is not properly balanced for
stable flight. As a result, DALP-TS has a very large scaling
factor associated with this penalty function. DALP-TS
explores violations of the remaining penalty functions in
order to achieve the algorithm’s main purpose: reduce the
total number of required aircraft trips. Thus, these values
are relatively smaller and equivalent; no type of relaxation
in the constraints receives priority over the others. The
aircraft usage fee for the first trip of any aircraft is
Cj1 = 50,000; subsequent trips impose a usage fee of
Cjk = 5,000 8 k [ 1.
The improvement value is 5 % of the overall objective
function value. The cessation value is 20 iterations, while
the Max fix value is 5 iterations. The Max minor move
value and Max non-improving move value are both 15. The
planning ACL Max violation is 2.5 % greater than the
planning ACL value, and the initial tabu tenure value is 20.
5.2 Scenario description
DALP-TS demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency on
100 instances of six scenarios that vary two factors: Pallets
and Aircraft. At the time of this research, no actual data
sets were available at the DALP level. As a result, two
types of pallet data sets were generated from line item
information contained in an unclassified version of the
January 2005 TPFDD from the Air Expeditionary Force
cycle 9/10. Unfortunately, a TPFDD line item only pro-
vides the combined overall weight for all items as well as
their associated temporal constraints; individual trans-
portable good dimensions (i.e., weight, height, length, and
depth) are not available.
To generate the pallet data from the information con-
tained in a TPFDD line item, DALP-TS computes upper
and lower bounds on the required number of pallets. The
bounds indicate the smallest and largest number of pallets
that could be created from the given cargo weight. In order
to be a non-trivial load, pallets were assumed to have a
lower weight bound of 2500 lb. The structural limitations
of the pallet base, as well as most cargo aircraft, restrict the
pallet upper weight limit to 10,000 lb. Thus, if a TPFDD
line item specified 63,800 lb of cargo, the minimum
number of possible pallets is: 63,800/10,000 = 7, and the
Logist. Res. (2016)9:12 Page 15 of 18 12

maximum number of pallets is: 63,800/2500 = 25. DALP- Table 4 Example instance used for DALP-TS algorithmic testing
TS randomly selects an integer between these bounds (in- Days in Type of Number Lower bound on
clusive) as the total number of pallets and assigns a random timeline aircraft of pallets required number
weight between 2500 and 10,000 lb to each pallet such that of aircraft trips
the sum of the pallet weights equals the specified weight by
29 C-17 500 28
the TPFDD line item. Each pallet associated with a given
56 C-17 1000 56
TPFDD line item has identical temporal constraints.
29 C-5 500 15
The first generated pallet data set utilized 20 distinct line
56 C-5 1000 29
items from the TPFDD with their associated weights and
29 C-17 and C-5 500 19
temporal constraints. The 20 line items totaled
56 C-17 and C-5 1000 38
2,160,950 lb of transportable goods with associated tem-
poral constraints ranging between 1 and 29 days for
available to load and required delivery dates, respectively. instance requiring transportation of 1000 pallets is the
The second pallet data set extended the first to 40 line items maximum of 2 * (4, 331, 900/(90, 000 ? 150, 000)) = 37
(inclusive of the original 20) and contained 4,331,900 lb of and 2 * (1000/(18 ? 36)) = 38. In these two scenarios, the
transportable goods with associated temporal constraints value inside the ceiling function is doubled to account for
ranging between 1 and 56 days for the available to load and multiple aircraft types. Table 4 presents the six problem
required delivery dates, respectively. Although the second scenario and their associated lower bounds on the number of
data set includes the line items in the first data set, the aircraft trips for these two example instances.
pallets associated with the line items were generated To properly demonstrate the efficacy of DALP-TS, two
independently, i.e., the second data set does not contain the sets of 100 instances of pallets with temporal restrictions
same pallet configurations generated for the first data set. (i.e., a short and long timeline) were randomly generated
Although DALP-TS accommodates nine configurations using the previously described methodology. Table 5 pre-
of six different military airlift aircraft, the scenarios con- sents a description of the instances and their associated
sidered herein only incorporate the principle military lower bounds.
strategic airlifters in the US Air Force inventory: the C-17
and C-5. Table 2 indicates that the Planning ACL for C-17 5.4 Results summary
and C-5 aircraft are 90,000 and 150,000 lb, respectively.
Additionally, Table 2 and Figs. 1, 2 denote that the C-17 in Running on an HP Pavilion desktop computer with an
the logistics system configuration and C-5 aircraft can hold AMD Phenom II X4 960T processor (CPU speed of
a maximum of 18 and 36 pallets, respectively. 3.00 GHz) and 8GM of DDR SDRAM, DALP-TS gener-
ated solutions for each of the 100 instances of the six
5.3 Lower bound computation problem scenarios. To determine the quality of the solu-
tions, the resulting required number of aircraft trips was
By relaxing all constraints except aircraft cargo weight and compared to the lower bounds for each of the 100 instan-
volume capacities, a reasonable lower bound on the number ces. The DALP-TS solution percentage from the lower
of aircraft is determined. Consider a scenario instance using bound is computed as:
C-17 aircraft to transport the first 20 line items from the
Percentage from lower bound
TPFDD which total 2,160,950 lb that have been divided into
ðSolution value  Lower bound valueÞ
500 pallets; the lower bound is computed as the maximum ¼
value of 2, 160, 950/90, 000 = 25 and 500/18 = 28. Like- Lower bound value
wise, consider a scenario instance using C-5 aircraft to The resulting values for the 100 instances were averaged
transport the first 40 line items from the TPFDD which total for each of the six problem scenarios. Figure 3 graphically
4,331,900 lb that have been divided 1000 pallets; the lower depicts the results for the comparison of the required
bound is computed as the maximum value of 4, 331, 900/ number of aircraft trips with the lower bound.
150, 000 = 29 and 1000/36 = 28. Finally, consider the Figure 3 demonstrates that for the C-17 aircraft, DALP-
scenario using both aircraft types with alternating avail- TS produced feasible solutions within an average of
ability (starting with the C-17); if an odd number of aircraft is 12.5 % of the lower bound value on the required number of
required in these scenarios, DALP-TS uses one additional aircraft trips for both the short and long timelines. Addi-
C-17 aircraft. The lower bound for a scenario instance tionally, DALP-TS produced average solutions with either
requiring transportation of 500 pallets is the maximum of (but not both) ACL Violations and Temporal Violations
2 * (2, 160, 950/(90, 000 ? 150, 000)) = 19 and that demonstrated minor (\2 %) average improvements
2 * (500/(18 ? 36)) = 19; while the lower bound for an over the feasible solutions. Finally, DALP-TS produced

123
12 Page 16 of 18 Logist. Res. (2016)9:12

Table 5 Instance values for DALP-TS algorithmic testing

Days in timeline Type of aircraft Number of pallets Lower bound on required number of aircraft trips
MIN AVG MAX MIN AVG MAX

29 C-17 426 539.36 653 25 30.41 37

56 C-17 853 1076.99 1271 49 60.27 71
29 C-5 426 539.36 653 15 15.83 19
56 C-5 853 1076.99 1271 29 30.72 36
29 C-17 and C-5 426 539.36 653 19 20.68 25
56 C-17 and C-5 853 1076.99 1271 37 40.64 48

Fig. 3 DALP-TS required aircraft trips percentage from lower bound value

infeasible solutions with both ACL and Temporal Viola-
tions that averaged within 7.4 and 10.7 % of the lower
bound for the short and long timelines, respectively.
Figure 3 also conveys that, for C-5 aircraft, DALP-TS
produced feasible solutions within 25.33 and 28.6 % of the
lower bound for the short and long timelines, respectively.
This jump is approximately double that of the C-17 air-
craft, which naturally poses the question: Why does a large
difference exist between the two aircraft types? The answer
is based on the ratio of the planning ACL to the number of
pallet positions for an aircraft type. The C-17 can hold an
average of 5000 lb per pallet position (i.e., 90,000 lb/18
pallet positions), while the C-5 can only hold an average of
4166.67 lb per pallet position (i.e., 150,000 lb/36 pallet
positions). The smaller average weight per pallet position
implies that a C-5 aircraft is more likely to reach its ACL
(weight) constraint before its pallet load (volume) con-
straint than a C-17 aircraft. This also translates to the
scenarios with a combination of C-5 and C-17 aircraft; in
these cases, the average weight per pallet position is
4444.44 (i.e., [150,000 ? 90,000]/[36 ? 18]).
The rationale for the difference in solution quality for
differing aircraft types is further demonstrated after ana-
lyzing which characteristic of the pallet data sets drives the
lower bound calculation for the 100 instances each problem
scenario. Since the total weight of the pallet sets are fixed
at 2,160,950 and 4,331,900 lb for the short and long sce-
narios, the lower bound on the required number of aircraft
based on total pallet weight is fixed for a given aircraft
type. For the C-17 aircraft, this lower bound is 2,160,950/

123
Logist. Res. (2016)9:12 Page 17 of 18 12

Table 6 Count of binding characteristic for lower bound computa- average, *24 % from the theoretical lower bound should
tion from the 100 problem instances be acceptable to a decision maker.
Aircraft type Timeline Pallet set characteristic
length
Binding by Binding by
number weight 6 Summary

C-17 Short 99 4 Prior to this research, the DALP had not been formulated or
Long 99 2 modeled. More general models exist, but these models do
C-5 Short 70 52 not assign items to specific positions in an aircraft and/or
Long 82 35 consider the temporal restrictions. Instead, these models
C-17 and C-5 Short 82 37 assign items based upon weight to aircraft and assume that
Long 89 16 the aircraft has the spatial capacity to accommodate the
items.
The DALP-TS algorithm expands upon the solution
representation used in the static airlift loading problem-
Table 7 DALP-TS average time to achieve a solution tabu search by including departure and arrival dates for
aircraft as well as multiple trips for aircraft [34]. As with
DALP-TS solution—average time (seconds)
the previous research, the representation lends itself to the
Solution type C-5 C-17 Combo TS methodology, specifically inserting and swapping of
Short problem pallets and adding and removing aircraft. The neighbor-
Feasible 166.23 46.86 78.52 hood definition in DALP-TS exploits the structure of the
ACL violations 144.81 41.30 70.82
solution representation.
Temporal violations 137.17 38.82 73.72
DALP-TS developed a unique dynamic neighborhood
selection process. The dynamic neighborhood selection
ACL and temporal violations 358.54 120.78 238.08
process incorporates problem specific knowledge as well as
Long problem
understanding of the TS search process. This process
Feasible 773.59 243.28 419.34
enables DALP-TS to effectively and efficiently search
ACL violations 682.08 211.92 377.29
areas of quality solutions by ensuring proper neighborhood
Temporal violations 644.04 200.54 392.75
selection.
ACL and temporal violations 1663.41 624.20 938.30
DALP-TS produces an array of solutions from which the
decision maker can select the preferred solution. If
90,000 = 26 for the short timeline pallet sets and encountered during the search process, DALP-TS reports
4,331,900/90,000 = 49 for the long timeline pallet sets. the best solution from four different types of solutions. The
Thus, the lower bound on the number of aircraft required four different types of solutions are feasible, those with
will never fall below these values; the lower bound will be only ACL violations, those with temporal only violations,
greater if the total number of pallets results in a value and those with both ACL and temporal violations.
greater than 26 or 49 for the short and long timelines, DALP-TS demonstrated its efficacy and efficiency on a
respectively. Table 6 presents a count of the total number series of 100 problem instances generated from informa-
of instances in which the lower bound is binding from tion contained in a TPFDD. No previous baseline or
either the number of pallets or the total weight of all pal- comparison results were available for the DALP prior to
lets. The combined value of both of these cases is greater this research. As a result, the DALP-TS results were
than 100 because some problem instances were generated compared against lower bounds on the number of aircraft
such that both characteristics are simultaneously binding trips required. These lower bound values were computed
against the lower bound. by relaxing the aircraft loading and cargo temporal
The average time (in seconds) to produce a solution for constraints.
each of the 100 instances of the six problem scenarios are
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative
presented in Table 7. Note that the longest average time to Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creative
locate a solution is less than 30 min (1663.41 s–27 min, commons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distri-
45 s). This is for a scenario requiring 56 days for cargo bution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate
credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the
delivery; a 30-min time to produce a solution which is, on
Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

123
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